Hi everyone! This is Cheng Ting-Fang, your #techAsia host for this week.
I just got back to Taipei from a weekend trip to Singapore to take in the tropical sea views and a Lady Gaga concert — and for a brief, refreshing break after the Computex trade fair.
A news alert this month caught my eye: Zhao Weiguo, former chair of Tsinghua Unigroup and a prominent figure in developing China’s semiconductor industry, was handed a suspended death sentence for corruption. This news triggered a vivid memory of my meeting with Zhao years ago, held in a high-ceilinged meeting room furnished with leather chairs. I still remember the way he swaggered into the room and how he chain-smoked four or five cigarettes. During our hour-long conversation, I found myself surrounded by a haze of white smoke that blurred my eyes as he passionately shared his ambitions for turning China’s chip industry into a global player. If Taiwan and South Korea can develop a competitive industry, he said, “China can, too. It just needs time.”